3 Count: The Empty House

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1: Sherlock Holmes Creator’s Estate Sues Over Ian McKellen Film

First off today, Deborah Day at The Wrap reports that the estate for Arthur Conan Doyle has filed a lawsuit against Mirimax, author Mitch Cullin and others involved in the production of A Slight Trick of the Mind, an upcoming film based on the 2005 novel by Cullin.

The Arthur Concan Doyle estate, in a separate lawsuit against the publication of fan created Sherlock Holmes stories, was ruled to have had its copyright protection lapse in all but 10 of original the Sherlock Holmes stories, the last 10 that were published. A Slight Trick of the Mind, however, focuses on a post-retirement Sherlock Holmes who teams up with a young boy to investigate a case.

According to the estate, the book and the film both incorporate elements specifically from the 10 stories still protected by copyright, thus prompting the lawsuit. Those elements include quotes from the stories and a seating arrangement Holmes uses to cause discomfort in clients among other elements. The lawsuit seeks recognition of the estate, a share of the profits and possibly an injunction against the film, which is due to be released in July.

2: Nina Simone’s Heirs Allege Sony Music Operates a Piracy Ring

Next up today, Eriq Gardner at Billboard reports that the estate of Nina Simone has filed a lawsuit against Sony and Orchard, a Sony-owned distributor of independent music, over posting of more than 80 albums of Simone’s live performances to iTunes and other online stores.

The battle over Simone’s music has been raging for years as Steven Ames Brown, Simone’s former attorney, and her former husband, Andrew Stoud, have clashed repeatedly over it. Sony became involved because it has contracts dating back to 1966 with the singer. In October, it seemed like the matter was coming to a close as a settlement was being reached but it fell apart as Sony filed a motion to rescind the agreement, saying rights it needed to exploit the music were being withheld.

However, on Wednesday of last week, former foes teamed up to sue Sony and Orchard, alleging that Orchard had illegally posted live recordings to various online stories and had done so in a way that would harm the estate’s ability to profit from the original recordings, namely by offering them at a lower price. The lawsuit seeks an injunction against Orchard and other damages.

3: Architect Claims Copyright Infringement

Finally today, Eather Hahn at the Half Moon Bay Review reports that Group 4 Architecture filed a copyright infringement complaint with YouTube against CitizenAccess.tv over a video that CitizenAccess posted to their channel featuring the firm’s fly-through tour of the proposed Half Moon Bay library.

Though CitizenAccess altered the video by adding subtitles that stated the costs of various elements of the library the firm demanded that it be pulled down. John Ullom, the founder of Citizen Access, said that he thought the video was owned by the city since it appeared on the city’s website. He went on to say that he didn’t learn about the notice until he logged into his account to prepare for a live stream of a city council meeting and discovered YouTube had revoked his right to perform such streams.

Ullom has said he is appealing the decision to YouTube but noted it takes 10 days for YouTube to restore works due to a claim of copyright infringement.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

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